Hebden Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire (England)

i saw Villanueve’s Dune 2 recently. i enjoyed it for the spectacle and the music and the set design and, in some cases, the acting. i also enjoyed Lynch’s version, tho for slightly different reasons, and the soundtrack to that one by Toto and Brian Eno is some of the most influential music in my entire career.

that said, while i have never been a stickler for “true to the book adaptations”, there is something that bothers me about both: the connection to real world history and religion has been almost completely severed. there might as well be a title card up front saying “a long time ago in a galaxy far away” and i wouldn’t be surprised to hear fans talk about a “Dune universe”. Important terms like “Orange Catholic Bible” and “Zen Sunni wanderers” are bizarrely absent from these adaptations. although to be fair, in the new one Gurney Hallek does quote from the OCB, but we are not told where that text comes from, its title is never mentioned.

I don’t think Frank Herbert had any intention of creating a “Dune universe”. I think he was, for better and worse, writing about our universe. Not a fantasy but a history, just set far in the future.

someone came up to me after a night vale show the other day and said they enjoyed my music and asked for my instagram. i happily obliged and showed it to them. they said something like "oh it's an artist account", sounding disappointed. i didn't quite hear them at first so i said "what?" and they said something like "no i get it" and walked off.

at least, i think that's what happened. but i'm also hard of hearing and not great with British accents.

in any case, just to be clear, I don't keep separate personal and artist accounts. and I don't have any kind of handler or management or anyone else involved with my social media in any context, it's all just me and I make absolutely zero separation between the artistic and the personal.

umm why is tumblr “asking for my support” as though it were some kind of artist or non-profit instead of a for-profit tech platform that does everything it can to demonstrate how wildly out of touch they are with the communities that actually inhabit this place?

Does band camp just not advertise bandcamp friday much?

Like I just don't see anything about it at all on their homepage.

yea they don’t seem to talk about it as much anymore but they do still have isitbandcampfriday.com at least

but unfortunately with the new management and all that, i don’t expect it to last much longer.

are you lots of people, or one person?

that's a hard question.

if you are asking about Disparition, the musical project, it is mainly the musical project of me, Jon Bernstein, and sometimes I bring in friends to sing or play instruments, but I write all the music and perform most of it. There have been a few shows where I put a band together to play Disparition music, but lately it's just been me.

if you are asking whether I, Jon, am truly "one person" in terms of how I feel and live my life, I'm a lot less sure. In many contexts. Are you, anonymous?

The hard truth about autism acceptance that a lot of people don't want to hear is that autism acceptance also inherently requires acceptance of people who are just weird.

And yes, I mean Those TM people. Middle schoolers who growl and bark and naruto run in the halls. Thirtysomethings who live with their parents. Furries. Fourteen-year-olds who identify as stargender and use neopronouns. Picky eaters. Adults in fandoms. People who talk weird. People who dress weird.

Because autistic people shouldn't have to disclose a medical diagnosis to you to avoid being mocked and ostracized for stuff that, at absolute worst, is annoying. Ruthlessly deriding people for this stuff then tacking on a "oh, but it's okay if they're autistic" does absolutely nothing to help autistic people! Especially when undiagnosed autistic people exist.

Like it or not, if you want to be an ally to autistic people, you're going to have to take the L and leave eccentric, weird people alone. Even if you don't know them to be autistic. You shouldn't be looking for Acceptable Reasons to be mean to people in the first place. Being respectful should be the default.

reblogging my first ever tumblr post for no reason. January 2011.

I have been on this website since 2011. I agree with all of this except "disable anonymous asks". I love anonymous asks!

got told at lunch "you feel like Tumblr Incarnate" and i had to tell them i've been here for 13 years and counting. i was here three years before dashcon happened. i saw the mishapocalypse. i survived the gigapause. i've been here longer than the shoelaces post. i've been here since it was hipsters versus fandom and i played both sides extensively by overdoing the sepia filters on everything and making my own flashing galaxy gif edits for my fandom posts. i'm every tumblr. it's all in me

Thanks for the answer! I didn't know that Ende was originally the last track, I assume it's German or some related language? I'm still confused about where the name Hexe comes from though, I can't find where the Severn is called that?

yes, on the original version of Satellite State (on a CD) Ende was the final track, but then I later made a digital only version which added a few additional pieces after that, The Egg and The Sleeper and so on.

The word Hexe was used to denote that the piece is the beginning of one incantation, designed to break another. The Severn is referenced directly in the lyrics of the album, as the Severn, though not until Song for the Other Side. however all of the lyrics in that album are effectively part of one statement. Unfortunately the album is not popular enough to appear on any lyrics websites so I will have to type them all up myself which is one of my many tasks I need to get to!

i very rarely do this with any book series but after finishing Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota books (and then taking a break with some lighter reads) i’ve started reading the first book again and it’s incredible. completely different experience

thank you very much for this info! I was planning to take the train into Antwerp rather than drive so hopefully highway blockages won't be an issue. However it is reminding me that the last time Night Vale was in Belgium we played in Leuven, then planned to drive into Brussels to catch a train to Paris, only to find that all roads into Brussels were closed that day. Locals knew about it, but we had no way to know what was going on, and none of the blocked roads had signs explaining what was happening. Nor did our hotel warn us. So thank you for the reminder to dive more deeply into local road conditions in advance!

as for Den Bosch the kind of knowledge I'm looking for from locals or people who know is just interesting things that might not be on a tourist oriented websites, I am looking especially for sites where I can record interesting sounds, feel compelling and inspiring atmospheres, places where one might find a noteworthy view or sense of calm away from the main part of the town, a favorite cozy out of the way shop where one could find rare musical instruments or art or unexpected historical objects, small pieces of local public art outside of trafficked and sanctioned spaces. that sort of thing..

and yes I'm definitely planning to take a tour of the tunnels!

in a couple weeks i will leave home. preparing to meet up with the Night Vale for a tour in Europe. however before i meet up with them i will be spending a few days alone in the town of ‘S-Hertogenbosch, also called Den Bosch, a town where i know zero people and don’t speak the language. in order gather my mind, to write and to put together various pieces of work. and of course to gather more material.

i chose that town because of its proximity to Antwerp (where the tour begins) and because it has certain characteristics i seek, such as a preserved medieval core, a cultural history in some way at odds with the capital region of its nation, traces of walls, an underground tunnel network, etc.

i have already conducted the basics of research on this town on my own but only through the internet. if you are reading this and know what i do and feel there is relevant local knowledge i should have and that i will be unlikely to find myself online or in english language sources please contact me. thank you

in a couple weeks i will leave home. preparing to meet up with the Night Vale for a tour in Europe. however before i meet up with them i will be spending a few days alone in the town of ‘S-Hertogenbosch, also called Den Bosch, a town where i know zero people and don’t speak the language. in order gather my mind, to write and to put together various pieces of work. and of course to gather more material.

i chose that town because of its proximity to Antwerp (where the tour begins) and because it has certain characteristics i seek, such as a preserved medieval core, a cultural history in some way at odds with the capital region of its nation, traces of walls, an underground tunnel network, etc.

i have already conducted the basics of research on this town on my own but only through the internet. if you are reading this and know what i do and feel there is relevant local knowledge i should have and that i will be unlikely to find myself online or in english language sources please contact me. thank you